News and Events
We have released our list of 2012 conferences related to public health, substance abuse prevention, nutrition, physical activity and more...We will update periodically throughout the year.
Posted 12.15.11
ChopChop: a free newsletter about cooking for families
Massachusetts Department of Public Health has released their first ChopChop newsletter devoted to healthy cooking for families. Share the link on your website or through email so families can take advantage of some great recipes. Check back in the future to view each month's newsletter.
The newsletter is the product of an innovative partnership with the national ChopChop magazine.
Posted 12.21.11
Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Communities issues policy statement on Medical Marijuana
Please visit our Policy & Advocacy page for WMCHC’s new policy statement on medical marijuana.
Posted 11.11.11
Update on "Happy Hour" provision in state gambling bill
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, NOV. 2, 2011….Saying the House appears unwilling to agree to their plan, two state senators who pushed an amendment aimed at giving Massachusetts bars and restaurants the same rights as casinos - which would be permitted to serve free drinks to patrons under advancing legislation - say they're now recommending an alternative approach to the issue.
Sen. James Timilty (D-Walpole), co-chairman of the Public Safety Committee, and Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) told the News Service Wednesday they're recommending that a six-member conference committee negotiating casino legislation authorize the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to spend a year reviewing alcohol regulations that apply to bars and restaurants and recommend revisions.
"We're leaving it kind of open for them but we would hope that obviously they would seek some input and come back to us with some ideas," said Hedlund.
Timilty and Hedlund hope the one-year review will lead the Legislature to adopt changes in the way alcohol-serving establishments are regulated before the first casino opens in Massachusetts - bills approved by the House and Senate this fall would authorize three casinos and one slot machine facility.
The senators said their original amendment, which critics slammed as potentially opening the door to the return of Happy Hour and widespread availability of free and discounted price drinks, was intended to assist restaurants and bars as they look to compete with casinos in a changed business landscape.
Casino supporters say the free drinks allowance will help casinos compete with out-of-state counterparts.
Noting liquor liability exposures facing bar owners and existing rules aimed at preventing alcohol servers from over-serving patrons, Hedlund and Timilty said they did not envision their original amendment leading to the return of Happy Hour, but instead helping businesses to attract customers.
"It's about fairness and that's all it was," said Timilty. "It wasn't about Animal House, which as I say again, is illegal. This is about putting a few more people to work."
Both Hedlund and Timilty said they hope that if their idea is adopted by the conference committee and signed into law, the ABCC will conduct a deliberative review of regulations that Hedlund called "arcane and archaic," with many rules dating back more than two decades.
"This is better than nothing at this point," said Hedlund, who operates a restaurant in Weymouth and voted for an unsuccessful amendment that would have banned casinos from offering free drinks.
To make their point, the senators in a letter to the conference committee said a bar recently was able to offer tequila shots for 40 cents each because it offered the drinks at the same price for seven days in a row. By contrast, they said a regional chain restaurant was recently found out of compliance with rules for offering $1 off locally produced beers on Wednesdays night because the promotion didn't last a week.
"This illustration shows that while our current alcohol laws may be well meaning, they are also mostly ineffective at preventing binge drinking, and so convoluted that experienced restaurant owners often unintentionally run afoul of the regulations," the senators wrote in their letter.
The senators said Massachusetts has had 27 years to weigh the results of the ban on drink specials enacted in 1984 and copied by only Utah since. Both claimed that ban had not decreased drunk driving, saying the recent Melanie's Law raising penalties on repeat offenders had had a more demonstrable impact.
The House casino bill didn't address the alcoholic beverage serving rights of non-casinos, but Timilty said of the Senate amendment, "I have a sense that it's a non-starter over there. They're not going to recede to it."
Hedlund agreed. "This place is not always, but often about compromise," he said.
In a statement released by Hedlund, Ron Bersani, the grandfather of Melanie Powell, who was struck and killed by a drunk driver and for whom the repeat offender law is named, said he supports the alternative proposal. "I have all the faith in the ABCC to promulgate common sense regulations that balance public safety with a sound business environment," Bersani said.
Alcohol-related policies have risen to the forefront on Beacon Hill in recent years. After agreeing to assess the 6.25 percent sales tax on retail alcohol sales, the Legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick watched as voters repealed that levy. This session, in addition to routinely passing laws granting alcohol licenses to particular businesses, the Legislature is advancing a bill giving large chains access to more alcohol licenses as they become available. That bill follows the approval last session of the so-called brunch bill, which permits businesses serving brunch to serve alcoholic beverages starting at 10 a.m. on Sundays, rather than noon.
Posted 11.9.11
Healthy People/Healthy Economy releases report card on Massachusetts
Want to see how Massachusetts is doing with regards to creating supportive environments for healthy eating and active living? Click here to veiw the full report.
Posted 9.22.11
Be Healthy this Summer - Connecticut River Water Quality Monitoring Project
A water quality monitoring project, conducted by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Connecticut River Watershed Council in partnership with the University of Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center, examines water temperature and bacteria at eight recreational sites along the Connecticut River mainstem, one site along the Chicopee River, and multiple sites on other tributaries throughout the Connecticut River’s watershed in Massachusetts.The data collected provides a more complete picture of the river’s health and understanding about sources of contamination. This will be useful information for recreational users, who have direct contact with the waters, and local, state, and federal health and environmental officials.
Posted 7.19.11
Public Health Council Passes Nutrition Standards for Competitive Foods and Beverages in Public Schools
On July 13, 2011, the Massachusetts Public Health Council approved new regulations designed to ensure that public schools offer students food and beverage choices that will enhance learning, contribute to their healthy growth and development, and cultivate lifelong healthy eating behaviors. Public health officials believe these strong standards will serve as an important step in reducing childhood obesity in the Commonwealth and support the state's wellness initiatives.
The new regulation takes effect with the 2012-2013 school year. An overview of the regulation is available here.
Posted 7.14.11
F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2011
Today, more than two out of three states, 38 total, have obesity rates over 25 percent, and just one has a rate lower than 20 percent. Since 1995, when data was available for every state, obesity rates have doubled in seven states and increased by at least 90 percent in 10 others. “Today, the state with the lowest obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995,” said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director of Trust for America’s Health. “There was a clear tipping point in our national weight gain over the last twenty years, and we can't afford to ignore the impact obesity has on our health and corresponding health care spending.”
F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011-- Trust for America's Health, a new report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, outlines obesity rates across the USA. For the first time, the report examines how the obesity epidemic has grown over the past two decades.
F as in Fat 2011 Massachusetts highlights the specifics of what public health officials are seeing in our state.
Posted 7.11.11
Cooley Dickinson Hospital releases report on the health of Hampshire County and Franklin County residents
Diabetes and obesity are on the rise in Hampshire and Franklin counties, according to a Cooley Dickinson Hospital-commissioned report that can now be downloaded from here.
The 2011 Community Health Assessment report is the result of a two-year process led by Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s Healthy Communities Committee, a subcommittee of the Hospital’s Board of Trustees.
Among the findings:
- Increases in diabetes and obesity mirror state-wide trends. In 2008, the percentage of people who had been diagnosed with diabetes in Hampshire and Franklin counties was approximately 7%, up from 5.5% in 2004.
- The number of adults who are overweight or obese has been increasing. As of 2009, 51.3% of adults in Hampshire County and 58% of adults in Franklin County were overweight or obese, compared to 57.5% in Massachusetts.
- Higher proportions of people in Hampshire and Franklin Counties consumer five or more fruits and vegetables a day as compared to the state as a whole, but still less than 50% consume the recommended amount per day.
The Healthy Communities Committee has sought to understand the health status of the community by collecting data, building relationships with local partners, and engaging the community in conversations about building a healthier community.
“This report will help us to better understand where the areas of need are in our community. It will help Cooley Dickinson to focus its efforts to reduce the burden of disease for communities and populations that need it most,” according to Jenny Reynolds, Chair of the Healthy Communities Committee and member of the Board of Trustees.
The report, which includes data based on surveys from Amherst, Easthampton and Northampton residents, is also intended as a tool for local organizations seeking comprehensive health data, while filling a gap identified by many working in health-related fields.
“Until now, there has been no recent comprehensive assessment conducted and disseminated locally. We plan to update this report periodically to continue to provide people with the best available data in a format that is accessible and useful for a variety of purposes,“ says Sarah Bankert, co-editor of the report and Prevention Specialist at the Western Mass Center for Healthy Communities, a program of Cooley Dickinson Hospital.
The report can be downloaded from the Cooley Dickinson website, www.cooley-dickinson.org/about/community-benefits and click on Community Health Assessment 2011. To request a paper copy of the report, contact Sarah Bankert at sarah_bankert@cooley-dickinson.org.
Posted 4.19.11
Report by the Food Trust shows need for more grocery stores in Western Mass
Commissioned by the Massachusetts Public Health Association, the report examined the number of grocery stores per capita and found that, compared to the national average, Massachusetts is third from the bottom when it comes to number of grocery stores per person. The report includes data for the Western Mass region.
Posted 4.19.11
Massachusetts Initiates New Certification for Prevention Specialists
The Massachusetts Board of Substance Abuse Counselor Certification (MBSACC) has developed criteria and requirements for those wishing to become certified prevention specialists. They are currently in a grandfathering period, now through June 30, 2012. In order to be certified during this period, the applicant must meet all required criteria, submit required documentation and submit required fees. After June 30th, all applicants will have to sign up, take and pass a certification exam.
Below is the information necessary to be certified as a prevention specialist in MA.
Grandparenting Requirements
Application Instructions
Application
Supervisor Verification
For any questions, please contact:
José Morales
617-624-5142
Jose.morales@state.ma.us